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(poundsign)LoveWins! Really??

For the past week, homosexuals and their advocates and supporters have been literally dancing in the streets, since five lawyers in black robes “gave” them the “right” to government-sanctioned “marriage”. That ruling, and a couple before it, has taken the issue out of the hands of the People, and in the case of Proposition 8 in California, has gone against the express will of the people. Even before the momentous ruling from On High in Washington DC, the effects were already being seen, and they aren’t pretty (small-town bakers fined $135,000 for declining to bake a cake for a homosexual “wedding”, etc.). One thing the homosexual activists are NOT is gracious in victory. The very next day, a city newspaper, the Harrisburg Patriot-News, issued a directive worded like this: “As a result of Friday’s ruling, PennLive/The Patriot-News will no longer accept, nor will it print, op-Eds and letters to the Editor in opposition to same-sex marriage”. [Many thanks to James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal for bringing this and following comments to our attention-he is a true patriot] In the paper’s opinion, letters to the editor opposing same-sex “marriage” are the equivalent of “hate speech”, or sexist or racist opinions that they refuse to publish (which is their right). Does this sound like love to you? These are the folks to tell you to “teach tolerance”.

First Amendment to Fall: Freedom of Speech.

For the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, same-sex “marriage” is an issue that does not have two sides. He tells a media blog that “We firmly believe that for a number of issues, including civil rights, women’s rights, anti-racism, and LGBT equality, there are not two sides”. Ridiculous. Taranto says, “But how could there have been a decision without an alternative to decide against?” Sounds a lot like “my way or the highway” to me.

In the months ahead, religious believers in the US are going to find their freedoms severely curtailed as a result of this ruling. There has already been extensive talk of denying religious institutions their tax-exempt status if they decline to officiate at homosexual “weddings”. Rod Dreher of Time.com says “Orthodox Christians Must Now Learn to Live as Exiles in Our Own Country”. That doesn’t sound much like love to me.

The ACLU (always a very liberal institution) has already declared that it no longer favors religious freedom, in a statement about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act this op-ed in the Washington Post:

“The ACLU supported the RFRA’s passage at the time because it didn’t believe the Constitution, as newly interpreted by the Supreme Court, would protect people such as Iknoor Singh, whose religious expression does not harm anyone else. But we can no longer support the law in its current form.”

This from my friend Nick Stuart on Ricochet, about what’s next for churches:

“What if we lose our 501c3 status? What does that mean for the ministry, for our contributors? Are our finances in good enough shape that we can meet that challenge? What’s the plan if that does happen? What’s the plan if we lose our property?
How do we support members who face losing their livelihoods in consequence of standing for biblical teaching?
How do we support the pastor and/or members who find themselves facing criminal charges for standing for biblical teaching?
Are we prepared to be named as defendants in a lawsuit for discriminating against homosexuals?
How do we support students who will be subjected to false teaching on the subject of marriage in their public school, and likely face ostracism, and possibly suspension or expulsion, if they speak up for biblical marriage? How do we support their parents? Is it time to get serious about starting a Christian school and/or supporting families who choose to homeschool?
How do we support families with children who claim they are homosexual, pansexual, transsexual, and who want to procure a same-sex marriage, or live together in a polyamorous grouping? If the kid is a church member and wants the ceremony in the church what’s our position?
What effort do we make to educate our members and attenders on biblical teaching on marriage? What about members and attenders who are offended by biblical teaching on marriage?”

There has already been talk of polygamy (a polygamous group has already applied for a marriage license in Montana), and there’s a story of a young woman boasting about marrying her biological father. No limits, now.

Second part of the First Amendment to Fall: Freedom of Religion

It seems that there will no longer be simple differences of opinion on the subject of homosexual “marriage”. If you are against it, and in favor of Traditional Marriage (the NORM for the past 5,000 years of human history), be prepared to be persecuted, hounded out of your job, dropped by your Facebook “friends”, silenced in the public square and the media, and sued for everything you are worth as a “bigot, homophobe”. Well, we Christians and Jews have been persecuted before, and we have survived.